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David, I’m quite surprised by your wildly partisan rhetoric, which is not in keeping with your usual thoughtful (but decidedly liberal) responses. Republicans are for health care reform that increases the accessibility and affordability of health insurance without having a Washington takeover one-sixth of our economy. To say that “Republicans in Congress are on record against health care reform” is simply not true.

Specifically, Republicans are on record supporting legislation to limit medical malpractice reforms, allow for the purchase of insurance across state lines, expand insurance coverage for small businesses and their employers, and expand tax-free Medical Savings Accounts, among many other common sense reforms. I would also note that under Sen. Reid’s bill, the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force (which recommended against yearly mammograms for women under age 50) would be empowered to decide on the kind of health care coverage that Americans receive. Specifically, Section 2713 of the bill would require every health plan in America to cover, without cost-sharing, prevention services recommended by the Task Force. Section 4105 would authorize the HHS Secretary to modify benefits under Medicare if consistent with Task Force recommendations and deny payment for prevention services the Task Force recommends against. There are at least 12 other similar provisions in the Reid bill which give faceless bureaucrats more influence over health care decisions than doctors and patients, which is one of the main reasons why Republicans oppose the Democrats’ version of health care reform.

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